Simple Present Tense

How do we make the Simple Present Tense?

For the 3rd person singular (he, she, it), we add s to the main verb or es to the auxiliary.

For the verb to be, we do not use an auxiliary, even for questions and negatives.

Look at these examples with the main verb like:

subject

auxiliary verb

main verb

+

I, you, we, they

like

coffee.

He, she, it

likes

coffee.

–

I, you, we, they

do

not

like

coffee.

He, she, it

does

not

like

coffee.

?

Do

I, you, we, they

like

coffee?

Does

he, she, it

like

coffee?

Look at these examples with the main verb be. Notice that there is no auxiliary:

subject

main verb

+

I

am

French.

You, we, they

are

French.

He, she, it

is

French.

–

I

am

not

old.

You, we, they

are

not

old.

He, she, it

is

not

old.

?

Am

I

late?

Are

you, we, they

late?

Is

he, she, it

late?

How do we use the Simple Present Tense?

We use the simple present tense when:

the action is general

the action happens all the time, or habitually, in the past, present and future

the action is not only happening now

the statement is always true

John drives a taxi.

past

present

future

It is John’s job to drive a taxi. He does it every day. Past, present and future.

Look at these examples:

I live inNew York.

The Moon goes round the Earth.

John drives a taxi.

He does not drive a bus.

We meet every Thursday.

We do not work at night.

Do you play football?

Note that with the verb to be, we can also use the simple present tense for situations that are not general. We can use the simple present tense to talk about now. Look at these examples of the verb “to be” in the simple present tense – some of them are general, some of them are now: